AudiogoN Forums: A mistake spending too much on amplification?

A mistake spending too much on amplification?

I was wondering if I screwed up by spending too much money on amplification? I have been upgrading my amp/preamp for awhile now (I started with a CODA Unison, then upgraded to a McCormack DNA-125 and EE Minimax, then to a Herron pre, and now mating that with Sixpacs). And, although there are subtle improvements, I am not hearing any night/day improvements, even when I go back to the CODA. And the CODA is much cheaper!

Does this mean I outpaced my speakers? Kind of like putting a supercharged turbo engine in a car with bald tires? Speakers are VS VR2's and Soliloquy 6.3's. Anyone have a good estimation on amplification costs relative to speaker costs? Sell the better amplification; use the money to buy better speakers?

Chiho (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

11-15-06

Responses (1-45 of 45)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

11-15-06 Regardless of what reviewers say you are not going to hear n ... Narrod

11-15-06 None of the amplifiers you listed are beyond the capabilitie ... Boa2

11-15-06 Narrod speaks the truth Jaybo

11-15-06 You've got some good speakers. why don't you really upgrade ... Krell_man

11-15-06: Jalapenos
The Sixpacs are crazy good on their own, and unbelievable with the right preamp. I have Sixpacs driven by the companion AES DJH, and am continually impressed by the sound of the two together. Perhaps your Herron preamp is not the best match with the Sixpacs.

Narrod above states there are no night/day differences between various components, and any differences will be subtle. This may be true, but when components have true synergy, you'll know it! I personally believe amplification (including the pre) should be one of your absolute strongest suites (along with AC power and the room itself). Speakers and sources are secondary in my world.
Jalapenos (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

11-15-06 Boa2 says, "the fact is there are significant variatio ... Narrod

11-15-06 Source first no matter what your amp are. Mlauner

11-15-06 The behavior of either a piece of electronics or of a loudsp ... Audiokinesis

11-15-06 Mlauner writes "sources first no matter what your amp ... Uru975

11-15-06 Do you still have both the sixpacs, & the dna-125? if so, yo ... Steveaudio

11-15-06 "source first" reminds me how much i hated my linn ... Cwlondon

11-15-06 Chiho, whether you hear differences or not, or whether the d ... Newbee

11-16-06 Spend money on room treatments if you want to hear a huge im ... Warnerwh

11-16-06 i must be missing something here. are you honestly suggesti ... Boa2

11-16-06 I agree with duke, to me, there is more variation between sp ... David12

11-16-06 Chiho, as newbee suggested, you might want to say more abou ... Boa2

11-15-06 I agree with narrod. it has been my experience as well with ... Bob_reynolds

11-16-06 Frankly i would make sure you have the best wire before proc ... Philjolet

11-16-06 Everyone has their own opinion. i've found mine to be that ... S7horton

11-16-06 Speakers will change the sound of your system, but speakers ... Swampwalker

11-16-06 Guess pretty much has been covered and you've got some good ... Ryder

11-16-06 Electromechanical components (cartridges and speakers) will ... Bigbucks5

11-16-06 could not agree more with this statement. $2k on speakers a ... Shadorne

11-16-06 All of this talk about speakers vs electronic's and the rati ... Newbee

11-16-06 There's an old idiom that says "there's more than one w ... Reubent

11-16-06 This has been interesting. i happen to believe that transdu ... Narrod

11-16-06 your system list prices indicate that your speaker is rou ... Shadorne

11-16-06 Shadorne, system has not been updated. currently i'm using ... Reubent

11-16-06 Reubent, thx for the update. wow, that is a lot of change i ... Shadorne

11-16-06 Thanks for all of the responses. i guess i should clarify w ... Chiho

11-16-06 opinions will vary, mine is, yes, go for the speakers, as b ... Brianmgrarcom

11-16-06 Not sure this is relevant, but i'm driving $1,400.00 monitor ... Tomryan

11-16-06 Chiho, you're over analyzing the situation. be happy that y ... Onhwy61

11-16-06 Chiho, your room dimensions and contents would still be help ... Sherod

11-16-06 tomryan, fwiw, imho, assuming that you already have a grea ... Shadorne

11-17-06 Unless you have difficult speakers power amps are relatively ... Jtgofish

11-17-06 tomryan, now i know you've made up the statistics, and you' ... Ryder

11-17-06 I agree with theabove about preamps, very important as it co ... Superhonestben

11-17-06 Tweaking of power/inter/spk cables*,ac delivery-filtering-re ... Electroid

11-17-06 The dynaudio focus 110s replaced $3,000.00 harbeths which re ... Tomryan

11-17-06 "spending that money on more music" probably the ... Newbee

11-17-06 In my opinion, it is never a mistake to purchase quality equ ... Szutinglee

11-17-06 Tomryan, fwiw, have you considered the possibility that the ... Shadorne

11-17-06 All the speakers i had when getting the cardas & tg cables w ... Tomryan

12-21-06 Interesting responses-thanks! i guess i have a bout of &quo ... Chiho